Nick Saban's 'one voice' philosophy spreads to other programs

New Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher was a part of LSU's staff earlier this decade (AP photo).Interesting post last night from Andrew Carter, who covers Florida State for the Orlando Sentinel.

Basically, what was expected now that coach-in-waiting Jimbo Fisher -- a Nick Saban disciple from the LSU days -- has taken over for Bobby Bowden is happening.

Florida State, traditionally one of the more media-accessible programs under Bowden, will not be that way under Fisher, who is opening up Saban's playbook in all areas for the Seminoles. That includes the "one voice" approach where assistant coaches and freshmen players are typically not allowed to speak publicly.

Per Carter's post ...

Saban, who recently led Alabama to the national championship, is well known for being a brilliant defensive strategist and for his maniacal attention to detail. He's also known, perhaps, as the one college football coach who has inspired countless others to limit media access to their programs.

Fisher worked with Saban at LSU earlier this decade, and Fisher already has implemented Saban's "one voice" model at Florida State, which under former coach Bobby Bowden had long been one of the most accessible programs in the nation.

Florida State's national signing day press conference earlier this week was the first concrete example of how Fisher will work with the media. During past FSU signing days, Bowden gave some general remarks about the incoming class and took some questions. His assistant coaches, spread around the room, were available, too. Two years ago, the players who had enrolled early - linebacker Nigel Bradham, among others - were also available for interviews.

On the most recent signing day? Fisher spoke. And that was it. No assistant coaches. None of the players - Jeff Luc, Clint Trickett, Debrale Smiley and Anthony McCloud - who had enrolled early. Just Fisher.

Word is that Tennessee is adopting a similar approach under another former Saban assistant, Derek Dooley. Though it's still unclear if Dooley will permit the Vols' assistants to speak to the media, freshmen will not. Here's betting a similar change happens when Will Muschamp takes over at Texas.

Reasons are simple: Other coaches tend to emulate Saban -- in all areas -- because it's proven that his approach works.

You can't begrudge anyone that, and let's be honest. These programs don't need to court the media. Alabama football will be thoroughly covered no matter what the policies might be. Same goes for Florida State, Texas, Tennessee, etc.

It should be noted that in Alabama's case, beat reporters have been granted additional opportunities the past two seasons because of the success of the team. BCS events require open post-game locker rooms (meaning all players are available if they choose) and for coordinators to hold press conferences leading up to the game. The SEC also requires locker rooms to be open after its championship game.

In the case of the BCS national championship game, that event required a media day two days before the game where all players and coaches were made available for one hour. You may think it's not a big deal, but those 60 minutes have helped fill this blog in recent weeks with well-received items that would not have been here otherwise (see here, here, here and here for the latest examples).